New Delhi: Nandita Das says that poverty and inequity affects children in unimaginable ways.
Nandita Das argues, that this will only change when we realise that "WE" are part of the problem. We, the privileged, continue to think of it as a problem unrelated to us,” she says.
She was speaking at TEDxWalled City Salon for 2016 Urban Habitat.

<b>Sehore (Madhya Pradesh):</b> Narmada, the river that is considered to be the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh is facing challenges not of its own making. Climate change is now impacting the health of the river, which also impacts the sustenance of the lush green fields of wheat and chickpea around the Narmada.</br>
<br>Leeladhar Manjhi, a fifty- year-old fisherman and a native of Budhni, a Nagar Palika in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh, said that rains had become very erratic in the last two decades. “Sometimes it rains very heavily, other times there are no rains at all. Earlier, it used to used to rain for four months in the monsoon season, nowadays it rains only for one or two months,” he said.</br>
<br>Manjhi said that income from fishing has dwindled over the years. “My income from fishing is just enough to sustain the family. Scanty rainfall is having an adverse impact on fish breeding. Also, because of less water in the river, there is less silt deposit near the banks which is harming melon cultivation,” he said. </br>

<b>Bhopal:</b> It is not without a reason that Bhopal is called the city of lakes. Numerous lakes, small and big, dot the city but the ones that have attained global recognition are known as the Bhoj wetland. Designated as a Ramsar site, the Bhoj Wetland consists of the Upper Lake and the Lower Lake. Bhopal city has grown around the Upper Lake, which is over a thousand years old and the residents of the city have made the lakes a mainstay of their activities.</br>
<br>Gulshan Bamra, Commissioner-cum-Director, Town & Country Planning, Madhya Pradesh, says: “People of Bhopal love their lakes and are ready to put even their lives at stake for their conservation.” Even those residents who do not derive direct economic benefits from the lake also keen to preserve it for the sake of strong cultural, historical and architectural interests.</br>
<br>Bamra adds that the entire catchment area of the Bhoj Wetland has been declared a no-colonisation zone and the usage of land in the catchment area is limited to agricultural activities. “Construction is a strictly regulated activity in this area of 400 sq km which is spread in Bhopal and the neighbouring Sehore district, and also includes a hundred odd villages in its stretch,” he said.</br>

<b>Bhopal:</b> It is well known that forests play a major role in mitigating the challenges of climate change, and Madhya Pradesh, which has the largest area under forests in the country, is keen to utilise this resource not only for addressing climate change issues but also for boosting the forest-based livelihoods of local communities.
<br><br>One of the pioneering initiatives in this regard has been the adoption of the bamboo in Madhya Pradesh to not only construct houses but also use it as part of a healthy diet. Bamboo, a grass, is one of the most environment-friendly species, as it produces 35 per cent more oxygen compared to other species. A hectare of bamboo forest sequesters 62 tons of carbon dioxide per year, while a young wood forest sequesters only 15 tons per year.</b>
<br><br>Dr AK Bhattacharya, Mission Director, State Bamboo Mission, Madhya Pradesh, and Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, says that if local communities get involved in natural resource management, impacts of climate change can be greatly reduced. He says that the state government has introduced a series of resolutions in the direction of joint forest management.</br>

Estimates indicate that globally some two and a half billion people have no access to a clean toilet – that’s one in every three people. In rural Nepal that number can be much higher according to the UN’s Global Sanitation Fund managed by WSSCC as many people practice “open” defecation. Now WSSCC is working community by community to educate villagers about the dangers of open defecation and teach them how to build their own toilets.

New Delhi: Ford India has embarked on its journey towards Holistic Education with the launch of its Happy Schools initiative. With this program Ford India wishes to open doors for children to realize their dreams of a prosperous and happy life, by improving access to education in primary schools.